Tuesday Night Race

Damn, that felt good! Feeling kinda twitchy tonight. My first time racing (albeit unofficially), and while I certainly made some rookie mistakes (early attack where I paid the price), this was more fun than should be allowed. Nice bunch of folks, too. Got dropped on Coddington on the first lap and just couldn't quite catch back up. Sure is hard to catch a paceline, but I learned my lesson on the second, more civilized, lap. I was able to keep with the paceline all the way around and felt more energized at the end than I did halfway through. Now I'm certainly looking forward to Hollenbeck's Classic on May 2nd. Whatever happens, I don't care now. If I get dropped, I'll just ride my best pace.

Stats:

Distance: 30.32 miles

Avg. speed: 20.4 mph

Vertical ascent: 1613 ft.

Calories burned: 2154 kcal

Max. speed: 40.7 mph

Time: 1:29:02

Yellow Barn Rd.: A Cleansing Experience

First Yellow Barn climb of the year. I like taking it on from Rt. 13, heading south, and it's by far my hardest regular climb. Today wasn't pretty, but I got the job done. I was imagining being passed by dozens of elite cyclists on the 800 ft., 2 mile climb. Today is the Paris-Roubaix race, considered one of the toughest bike races in the world, and I was imagining what it would be like to be in the mix there. I'd get flattened and publicly humiliated, so my solo cycling adventure was probably a better choice.

Since spring is exploding all over, I brought the camera to document the greening of the landscape. I never get off the bike to take pictures, which should explain the primitive framing of the shots. Garmin  needs to integrate a digital camera into their next generation of cycling GPS units—I think it would sell like hotcakes. Perhaps a helmet cam would be a better idea. I'm hoping for one for my 50th.

After the Yellow Barn climb, I decided to extend the ride a little and take on another climb, so I took the Brooktondale extension off of 79 and headed up Banks Rd. to Coddington. When will I ever learn about Coddington? There was a terrible motorcycle accident on that road the other day which resulted in a fatality, and I couldn't help but think about that awful event while riding on what must be one of the most dangerous cycling roads. The road is narrow with many blind corners, huge potholes, and fairly aggressive traffic. If you look back through my entries, you'll see previous promises to avoid this road like the plague, but hopefully I will remember to avoid this until the road is resurfaced. Given the controversy regarding widening Coddington, along with the dreadful state of budgetary affairs for NY State, this probably won't be happening any time soon.

Today I felt like I really turned a corner on my season. I'm ready for some longer rides now, and I'll probably be joining the Finger Lakes Cycling Club for some of their Tuesday evening rides. Amateur racing is still a distant thought—hopefully I can find a kind soul to mentor me through the process.

Stats:

Distance: 39.17 miles

Avg. speed: 17.6 mph

Vertical ascent: 2815 ft.

Avg. heart rate: 145 bpm

Calories burned: 2491 kcal

Max. speed: 41.7 mph

Time: 2:13:41